Dickinson Museum Temporarily Closed

The New York Times has reported that at The Homestead (left), part of the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts, a section of the ceiling in the parlor collapsed on Sunday. The museum is currently closed and plans to re-open this Saturday, October 31st. If you’re heading there, check the Plan Your Visit page on their website first to confirm.

Emily Dickinson was born at The Homestead on December 10, 1830. She spent all but 15 of her 55 years at the house, where she penned poetry in secret and saved it in hand-bound volumes that were discovered by her sister after her death. Only seven of her 1,800 poems were published during her lifetime.

Dickinson often tended the gardens at The Homestead (attired in her signature white dress, a replica of which is on display), and much of her poetry features floral references. On the museum’s website, a virtual tour of the grounds offers insight into how Dickinson was inspired by the landscape surrounding The Homestead. “Flowers were a favorite metaphor for Emily Dickinson,” viewers are informed. “She used them to represent beauty, love, mystery and the whole cycle of life.”